Tuesday, September 6, 2016

The world is a slightly better place today.
Phyllis Schlafly died yesterday, succumbing to whatever it is that kills gorgons, which would have been even better news about 40 years ago, but you take what you can get.
A uniquely nasty piece of work, Schlafly was a woman who made a successful career out of telling other women they shouldn't be allowed to have careers. She rose to a position of no small prominence and influence by telling other women they should not be allowed to be prominent or influential.

She may have been best known for being one of the biggest reasons that the Equal Rights Amendment was never ratified, campaigning tirelessly against the idea of women who were not her having equality. I guess that when you make your money from speaking fees and book sales, equal pay is not a big issue for you.

Schlafly used to begin her speeches by gleefully thanking her husband for allowing her to be there. She would then add that she liked to open this way because it angered the feminists. Basically, she enjoyed giving a big middle finger to her fellow women who were struggling to not be treated as second-class citizens by reveling in her own pathetic subservience. Whether this subservience was real or a convenient fiction I don't know. I'm guessing that when you're the celebrity in the family and the one with the big speaking fees and publishing royalties, you're probably the one calling the shots. Did Schlafly believe her own venomous rhetoric? I have no idea. My guess is that she probably did not, that like most right-wing political figures, she was running a con, but maybe she did. I sure don't care enough to do any research. Either way she was a terrible human being.

When reached for comment, Satan said he welcomed his new bride and was looking forward to testing the limits of her commitment to serving her husband.